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Local MP criticizes 2018 federal budget

Peace River-Westlock MP Arnold Viersen had few kind words to say about the 2018 federal budget, which the Trudeau government released on Feb. 27.

One of his main criticisms was the $18-billion deficit for this year.

"It's a total failure on the part of Justin Trudeau," Viersen said, adding that this was almost double the promised deficit of $10-billion.

He also noted that $35-billion will be spent on a new infrastructure bank to help investors build pipelines in Asia while Canada had few pipeline projects in the works.

"Alberta and Whitecourt in particular needs pipeline capacity in order for the economy to grow over the next few years and we're not seeing that happening at all," Viersen said.

The Trudeau government also unveiled a small business tax reform. Viersen explained that companies will now have to pay higher tax and carry four to five bank accounts to deal with passive investments such as bonds and shares.

"They're just making it more difficult for small businesses to operate," he said. "It's added significant complexity to the tax code with no real benefit."

He also criticized how $10-billion in infrastructure spending had been pushed past the next election and that the federal government will give $1-billion to large corporations in the cities—or superclusters—rather than rural small businesses, such as those in northern Alberta.

One positive with the budget was the $508-million allocated for cyber security, Viersen said, but added that Canada needed to spend more on missile defence.

"At this point, we have no missile defence, even though we're paying for the missile defence of other NORAD countries," he said, clarifying that the United States isn't technically under legal obligation to provide missile defence for Canada.

Viersen also commended some of the initiatives detailed in the budget, such as assisting Indigenous communities and promoting gender equality, but wanted to see how they would unfold. He noted that the Trudeau government had taken 40 First Nations off the water advisory list while only adding 23 since taking power in 2015.

"They've made broad sweeping promises in the election. They're failing to deliver on those," Viersen said. "It's nice to say these things, but they actually have to deliver."

He estimated that the budget would add $800 per Canadian family and put the country over a trillion dollars in debt by the next federal election.